The Greville Memoirs, Part 1 (of 3), Volume 1 (of 3): A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William IVGreville, Charles
History
The Greville Memoirs, Part 1 (of 3), Volume 1 (of 3): A Journal of the Reigns of King George IV and King William IV
Greville, Charles
Great Britain -- History -- George IV, 1820-1830; Great Britain -- History -- William IV, 1830-1837
There is a strong report that the Turks want to treat, and the
proclamation of Diebitsch looks as if the Russians were ready to
make peace. There is also a hope that the Russian army may have
been too bold, and finds itself in a scrape by having advanced
too far from its resources, but the former notion is the most
likely of the two. Three or four sail of the line are ordered out
to the Mediterranean.
[Page Head: MR. WINDHAM'S DIARY.]
Yesterday I went with Amyot to his house, where he showed me a
part of Windham's diary; there are twenty-eight little volumes of
it, begun in 1784, when he was thirty-four years old, and
continued irregularly till his death; it seems to be written very
freely and familiarly, and is probably a correct picture of the
writer's mind. I only read a few pages, which were chiefly
notices of his moving about, where he dined, the company he met,
and other trifles, often very trifling and sometimes not very
decent; it abounds with expressions of self-reproach for
idleness, breach of resolutions, and not taking care of his
health; talks of the books he reads and means to read, and
constantly describes the state of spirits he is in. There is a
paper containing an account of his last interview with Johnson,
shortly before Johnson died; he says that he told Johnson how
much he reproached himself for not having lived more in his
society, and that he had often resolved to be with him as much as
he could, but that his not having done so was a proof of the
fallacy of our resolutions, that he regretted. In Windham's diary
are several Johnsoniana, after the manner of Boswell, only much
shorter, his opinions on one or two subjects briefly given, some
quotations and criticisms. I was much struck with his criticisms
on Virgil, whom he seems to have held in great contempt, and to
have regarded as inferior to Ovid. He says, 'Take away his
imitation of Homer, and what do you leave him?' Of Homer his
admiration was unbounded, although he says that he never read the
whole of the 'Odyssey' in the original, but that everything which
is most admirable in poetry is to be found in Homer. I care the
less about remembering these things because they will probably
appear in print before long.[3]
[3] [A selection from Mr. Windham's journals was published
by Mrs. Henry Baring in 1866. The Johnsoniana had
previously been published by Mr. Croker in his edition
of Boswell's 'Life of Johnson.']
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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